Do you think it's a coincidence that the Democratic lawmakers who publicly made the case for legislative pay raises this week ran unopposed for re-election? I doubt there's any way a politician could ask for a raise without someone getting mad, so it makes sense to have it come from legislators in the safest of safe districts.

According to Brad Shannon at The Olympian, it was two Seattle Democrats who made the pitch this week before the Washington Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials. Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson said legislators should be given a raise of at least 10 percent.

Dickerson said she calculated her hours worked and effective pay — just over $18 an hour at the $36,311 annual salary — then looked at other jobs that pay that amount.

"Payroll clerks make something in that neighborhood. Law clerks do as well. Jailers make a little more. Animal control officers make pretty much the same. ... Butchers and meat cutters were the closest I could come to. Embalmers? A little bit more," Dickerson said.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles said lawmakers should be paid for the hours they put into the job:

Kohl-Welles said the number of constituents in her district keeps growing and the use of e-mail has exploded, requiring her to spend some five or six hours in a day to answer the correspondence. It's making the job more full-time, and Kohl-Welles said she would like to consider redefining the job of legislator as a full-time job — asking voters to amend the Constitution.

State Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, issued a statement today saying lawmakers shouldn't lobby for raises and "should just let the commission do its work."

The commission is meeting in Olympia and expected to make salary recommendations today. The commission will then hold a series of public hearings on the proposal before adopting a salary schedule to take effect in September. The Legislature has no official say over its salaries, or the pay of other elected officials under the purview of the commission.